Police Department
Disgraced Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins died after being stabbed in the throat in an alleged prison attack, an investigation has learned.
Watkins, forty-eight, succumbed on 11 October after being targeted at HMP Wakefield, where he had been completing a 29-year prison sentence for child sex crimes including the sexual assault of a baby.
The hearing, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was adjourned pending the conclusion of an associated murder trial.
Two men have been accused with murder in relation to Watkins' death while two other suspects, aged 23 and 39, detained earlier this week on suspicion of plot to murder were sent back to prison as investigations continued.
Official Statement
Coroner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was referred to by his full name of Ian David Karslake Watkins during the short proceeding, had been declared deceased at the West Yorkshire prison by an on-call doctor and was formally recognized by a prison guard.
Mr Longstaff said emergency services were summoned to the jail "after a report he had been attacked in the neck".
The coroner said a post-mortem report gave the cause of death as an wound to the throat.
'Extreme Wickedness'
In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins denied rape but admitted the attempted rape and abuse of a child under 13.
He admitted 13 crimes, including conspiring to rape a child, three counts of sexual assault involving children, seven involving creating, producing or possessing indecent images of children and one of having an shocking image involving a sex act on an creature.
Legal authorities had described him as a man corrupted by celebrity, substances, and influence who had committed crimes "exceeding imagination."
Mr Justice Royce said the case had broken "new ground" and "plunged into new depths of wickedness".
Watkins was also stabbed in prison in 2023. Following that attack, he was taken to medical facility with wounds which were not fatal.
Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, were presented in court last week accused with his murder, but were not asked to enter pleas.
Background of Ian Watkins?
Media Archives
Watkins was once one of Wales' most recognisable artists - the frontman of the rock band Lostprophets.
The band formed in Pontypridd in 1997, and sold millions of albums across the world.
They released five studio albums, one of which reached number one in the UK.
The group also had some achievement in the US, with their second and third albums attaining the popular charts.
They separated immediately after Watkins was convicted in 2013.
His former group members spoke publicly about their shock and disgust.
Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Although I was completely finished with him, I hoped it was all a mistake, he was innocent, he had to be.
"The first time, we knew the band was done. You can't go back from that."
The other members and American singer Geoff Rickly created a new band, No Devotion, soon after.
